Child&#39;s garment



y 4, 1943- H. R. LEUTHY 2,440,721

CHILD S GARMENT Filed Jan. 16, 1947 i7 1 INVENTOR. 12 HENRY R. LEUTH'Y F] G. 2 Y

ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 4, 1948 UNITED STATES ATENT oFFicE This invention relates tea chil-ds garment and more particularly to a garment byuseof which a childis prevented from moving up in its bed or criba-nd' crawling ont'from under the covers. Various forms of garments and attachments for garments exist in the prior art by which it hasbeen-sought to keep a child from climbing up in bed and at the same time permit it freedom for movement sothat it does not beconre entangled and in some cases injured as -'a res-ult'of such entanglement. Of the various prior art devices of which I am awareone that attempts tosolvethe problem'is shown and described in "Pa-tent No; 2 ,230;492, issued February l, 194-1, to G. R. I-I-ilby. According to thispatent a garment is provi-de'd-thatis longer than the c'h'flcPs body and legs and is secured at its lower "end to thebed to prevent thec'hfld in it from crawling-up in the "bed. I have found that gar- Inents of thistype inwhich the child is placed .in a baglike enclosure are subject to serious disadvantages in that the child may entangle itself from the waist down in the folds of the garment resulting in its discomfort and in certain cases in harm, particularly as it turns over in' bed. A further" disadvantage with such a garment arises fro'm the f act that even in hot weather thecl'iilds body is iully enclosed when its comdlctates that as much of it as possible be exposed to the air. 1 i i With the foregoingand other disadvantages in mind it is a general object of the present invention'to provide an improved sleeping garment by which a child may be retained safely in a desired position in the bedand prevented from crawling up and out from under the covers. Another obj ect of the invention is to provide such a garment in which no harm can come to the child by its entangling itself therein as-it attempts to move about in the bed. A further object of the invention is to provide a garment the bed with its legs and causing an undesired pull "to be transmitted through the garment to some other part of the body. An additional object is to prevent the child from moving side- Ways in bed as well as from crawling from the bottom toward the top. Stillan additional ob- 6 Claims. (01. 1281 34) ject is to provide a garment with which an infant may be secured in bed and yet be permitted to roll over without becoming entangled either in the garment or the fastening means by which the garment is secured to th'e bed. Another object is to provide a "garment in which the envelopeab'out the childs torso cannot twist and'in which a tape "that secures the child in bed is the only part "that twists if the child turns over.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the 'foilowing'description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings. The

"novel'i'eatures ofthe invention are summarized form of the garment and positioned-in its bed i-ace'downfF-igure 2 isa section through Figure 1 as indicated by the lines 2-4 thereon; Figure 3 is an enlarged detail showing the main fastenlog "tape and a modified showing of another way in *wlrichthe' tape is. secured to the garment between thechilds legs and above its knees; and Figure 4 is sectional detail as indicated by the lines i-: 3 in Figure '3.

A fundamental characteristic (lithe present invention is that the garment described herein is secured to a tape that ties or is otherwise pinned or fastened near thebottcm of the bed at one end and at the otherend is secured to the garment closely adjacent the child s crotch between its legs and high above its knees. This permits the childs legs to be almost completely free so that they may be moved in any direction without becoming entangled in thegarment or any of the fastening means associated with it. It is contemplated that the garment may be provided with legs to *ooverthe childs feet if other and rest in a lengthwise recess ii thereof (Figure '2) to support'the mattress 26. If desired separate springs may be interposed between the slats in the mattress butsince the bed itself forms no part of the 'present invention *fidit is believed that the above description of a typical bed will sufiice. The child is positioned in the bed as indicated, frequently stomach down with its head to one side. It ordinarily does not stay in the position in which it is placed initially but tends to crawl up in the bed and to r011 over kicking off the covers in the process. It is desirable that the child be able to roll over in bed but it is very desirable that it be prevented from crawling up toward the top and out from under the covers. These desired results are obtained with the present invention.

A garment indicated generally at 25 includes an envelope fitting over the childs torso that is provided with a zipper fastener 26, or other fastening means by which it may be ciosed after having been put on the child so that its neck protrudes through an opening 21 and its arms,

through the ends of sleeves 28. The sleeves cover the shoulders to provide a portion 30 on each side of the neck against which the pull is exerted by which the child is prevented from crawling up in bed. This pull avoids any possibility of harming the childby causing the garment to pinch around its neck since all of the pull is downwardly and is taken by the shoulders. The fabric from which the garment is made is ordinarily knit material of a type wellknown in the garment field and one that is easily laundered and otherwise cared for.

At its lower end the garment terminates just below the childs hips as shown in Figure 1 with a pair of leg openings 32 on either side of a short closed loop 34 passing between the childs legs. This loop is preferably secured permanently by a row of stitching 36 although if desired snap fasteners may be used to permit the closed loop to be opened if need be. It is emphasized that the loop is formed as high in the childs crotch as is comfortable in order that there may be no possibility of its entangling its legs therein with resultant injury.

From the description thus far it will be evident that the envelope 25 covers substantially no more than the childs torso and that the legs as well as the arms are free.

To hold the child in bed and prevent it from crawling up a tape or strap 40 is provided that is bifurcated at its lower end to form two parts :32 and 43 that extend across the lower end of the mattress and pass beneath it to be secured at 44 to the adjacent slat I as best shown in Figure 1. If desired the tape can be secured directly to the mattress. At its other end the tape 40 is provided with a, stiff plastic tip 48 adapted to pass within a loop 45 formed in the bottom of the garment just below the line of stitching 36. To secure the tip and tape together an end of the latter passes through an opening 49 and is doubled back on itself and stitched at 59 as shown in Figure 4. The tip is pointed as indicated at 52 (Figure 3) to permit it to be passed freely through the loop 45 after which an opening 54 in it is engaged with a hook 56 made of resilient plastic material (Figure 4) The hook is pierced at one end to receive stitching 53 by which it is fastened to the tape and it is bent inwardly toward the tape to clamp the tip lightly so the tip will not become disengaged if the child moves down and takes the tension off the tape. these hooks are secured to the tape to permit adjustment in the position in which the child is held with respect to the bottom of the bed. Also, if desired, the hook portions may be integral with the tip 48 and the eyed opening indicated at 54 may be integral with the tape thus providing a 4 reversal of the parts. It will also be apparent that other forms of fasteners may be employed if desired to secure the tape in position with respect to the envelope.

By the provision of the envelope that is secured to the childs body by the portions 30 and the loop at stitching 36 this part of the garment turns with the child if it turns over in bed so that it does not become entangled therein. The tape 40 on the other hand is the part that becomes twisted if the child rolls over and this, being merely the twisting of a single stretched tape, offers no possibility for entanglement.

Provision is made to prevent the child from moving sidewise in the bed although it is contemplated thatin many instances only the tape indicated at 40.to hold the child down in bed as previously described will be employed. If the child isto be secured in bed against sidewise movement a second tape indicated at '60 is pro-' vided as shown in Figures 1 and 2 that extends across the bed between the infants waist and shoulders and is secured to the bed or mattress by any suitable means such as by loops BI and,

62' to the side members I2 and I3 thereof. The tape 60 is drawn tightly across the mattress to lie fiat thereagainst. Secured to the tape 60 by suitbeneath it and by the straps B4 and. By this ,entangling its legstherein, a tape securable to .a part of the bedadjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child, a rigid fastening means it is permitted to roll over but not to move sidewise or down in the bed..

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have provided an improved garment for securing an infant in place in bed to prevent it from crawling upwardly from beneath the covers and yet prevent its legs from becoming entangled in the folds of the garment or in any tapes or the like associated with the garment.

vIn the specification and claims the word garment is defined to include not only the envelope 25 but such fastening tapes as make up the comtions are within the scope of the present invention except as it is limited by the appended claims.

I claim: ,1. A childs garment having a neck opening, sleeves and a body portion extending away from said opening and said sleeves and terminating ,in a closed loop adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide a closed envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said closed loop being short enough to prevent a child from pointed tip secured to the end of said tape, hook .and eye elements, one element on said tip and 7 .the other on said tape to secure said tip and tape A plurality of over in bed and tomove its legs freely outside of said envelope.

2. A childs garment having a neck opening, sleeves and'a body portion extending away from said opening and said sleeves and terminating in a closed loop adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide a closed envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said closed loop being short enough to prevent a child from entangling its legs therein, a tie strap securable to a part of the bed adjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child, a loop at the end of said tie strap to pass through said closed loop, said tie strap and said envelope cooperating to prevent the child from moving up in bed by applying a restraining force to the child over its shoulders while permitting the child to roll over in bed and to move its legs freely outside of said envelope, a tape extending across the bed adjacent the middle of the childs torso and secured to opposite sides of the bed and a loop on said tape to encircle the childs torso and restrain the child from bodily motion sideways in said bed.

3. A childs garment having a neck opening, sleeves and a body portion extending away from said opening and said sleeves and terminating in a closed loop adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide a closed envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said closed loop being short enough to prevent a child from entangling its legs therein, a tape securable to a part of the bed adjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child, a rigid pointed tip secured to the end of said tape, hook and eye elements, one element on said tip and the other on said tape to secure said tip and tape together and form a loop passing through said closed loopysaid tape and said envelope cooperating to prevent the child from moving up in bed by applying a restraining force to the child over its shoulders while permitting the child to roll over in bed and to move its legs freely outside of said envelope, a second tape extending across the bed adjacent the middle of the childs torso and secured to opposite sides of the bed and a loop on said second tape to encircle the childs torso and restrain the child from bodily motion sideways in said bed.

4. A child's garment having a neck opening, sleeve openings and a body portion extending away from said neck opening and said sleeve openings and terminating in ends adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide an envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said envelope passing between the childs legs close enough to the crotch to prevent a child from entangling its legs therein, an opening formed in said envelope adjacent the lower end thereof adapted loosely to receive a tie strap, a narrow tie strap to be secured to a part of the bed adjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child and through said loop to provide a loose connection between said envelope and said tie strap permitting sliding movement between said envelope and said tie strap, said tie strap and said envelope cooperating to prevent the child from moving up in bed by applying a restraining force to the child over its shoulders while permitting the child to roll over in bed and to move its legs freely outside of said envelope and around said tie strap.

5. A childs garment having a neck opening, sleeve openings and a body portion extending away from said neck opening and said sleeve openings and terminating in ends adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide an envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said envelope passing between the childs legs close enough to the crotch to prevent a child from entangling its legs therein, a tie strap to be secured to a part of the bed adjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child and be connected to said envelope at a point be tween the childs legs above the knees, said tie strap and said envelope cooperating to prevent the child from moving up in bed by applying a restraining force to the child over its shoulders while permitting the child to roll over in bed and to move its legs freely outside of said envelope and a tape extending across the bed and the childs torso to restrain the child from bodily motion sideways in said bed.

6. A childs garment having a neck opening, sleeve openings and a body portion extending away from said neck opening and said sleeve openings and terminating in ends adapted to pass between the legs of the child near its crotch above the knees to provide an envelope covering the childs torso and leaving the childs legs free, said envelope passing between the childs legs close enough to the crotch to prevent a child from entangling its legs therein, a tie strap to be secured to a part of the bed adjacent the end thereof to pass up between the legs of the child and be connected to said envelope at a point between the childs legs above the knees, said tie strap and said envelope cooperating to prevent the child from moving up in bed by applying a restraining force to the child over its shoulders while permitting the child to roll over in bed and to move its legs freely outside of said envelope, a tape extending across the bed in the region of the childs torso and secured to opposite sides of the bed and including a portion adapted to pass over the childs torso and restrain the child from bodily motion sideways in said bed.

HENRY R. LEUTHY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Steigerwald May 28, 1946 Number 

